neon charging issues HELP!

As of today, I have been without my car for about three weeks. I hired someone to install a timing belt and water pump I had bought at a lesser charge than most garages would charge me--someone who was confident he could do the job--and when he took a look at my car, there were two large chipped places/gaps in the side of my power steering pulley. He also said I had a bad idler (this, I admit I haven't the slightest clue about) that needed replaced. Before he worked on the car, I drove it three hours to his house, parked, and had left my lights on, so I killed my battery for the moment. No matter, though; he boosted it off, pulled it into his garage, and began work the next day. I was going to be charged ten dollars an hour, which I thought was absolutely fabulous, but this has turned into a nightmare now.

The timing belt, water pump, power steering pulley, and idler were replaced. Once he reconnected my battery, it wasn't charging--the battery light stayed on. He checked the voltage and it was too low, and he also determined that I needed a new alternator. Whether it matters or not, the temperature sensor was not placed back inside the battery blanket to sit continuously against the battery, especially once a larger battery was placed in the car to see if that corrected the problem, thinking my battery was completely dead and in need of replacement. This didn't fix the issue, and neither did a new alternator. Both the alternator that was in my car and the one bought as a replacement, I was told, tested to be bad at Advance Auto, and a replacement alternator was given. So, third alternator in my car. This one tests to be good. He boosted it off, battery light stayed on, and within about thirty minutes, the car was dead again. This is running into more money than I had to spend, and now, for the moment, I am broke. I should also mention that, judging by what was said, he wasn't quite clear how to remove the power steering pulley until he called a friend/mechanic and was told how to do so in about ten minutes. I don't know if that even matters, but I'm mentioning everything I know!

He called a Dodge dealership and a tech support line, explained the issue, and was told it was probably the voltage regulator within the PCM. I had just previously had a re-manufactured PCM installed in the car about four months prior to this after the neon went into limp mode and was stuck in first or second gear, and that seemed to remedy things besides what I felt to be some weird shifting. I'm used to driving manual shift cars, but I'm sure it didn't shift quite right, and when the accelerator is punched too quickly, the kickdown (?) can be hard. Even so, I've driven it hard and many miles since the replacement PCM was installed, and she just kept on going and going, thank goodness. Furthermore, he said my old battery had two bad seals. The suspicion is that, when I ran the battery dead, somehow (because I don't understand these things), it shorted out the regulator in my PCM and killed it. Maybe this is what happened to it the first time around? I understand that voltage problems can also cause weird shifting, too.

Some facts about the car prior to the installation of the timing belt, water pump, power steering pulley, idler, and alternator:

*My airbag light had come on about a week prior to the work, would sometimes go off for a while, then come back on. He said all fuses were good. He also checked the fuse link (?) after work, and it is fine.

*During cold weather--because that's all we've had here in KY for many months--sometimes the car would hesitate to start as though it wasn't getting enough power, like the battery was dying. I was told this was due to the ridiculously frigid temperatures, probably, and no matter how many times it done it (not a lot), it always started right up.

*When I roll my windows down, the interior lights always dimmed.

*Not knowing the lot or whomever owned the car before me put water in the radiator instead of antifreeze (I know, I'm an idiot), the radiator froze up on the first cold night we had. After the thaw, engine sounded fine, no overheating whatsoever, though my heater would barely get warm after that on cold days...just warm enough. The guy who worked on the car said there was a very slight bit of oil in my water on the cap/lid, but assured me that it is nothing at all for me to worry about for a very, very long time--he said it would be perfectly fine. I know this likely has nothing to do with my current issues, but I felt I should mention it, just in case. Lights dimmed with windows rolled down and things before that happened.

I shipped my PCM out for replacement, having a lifetime warranty. I have no idea if it will even correct the current problem, but at this point, I am out of funds to do anything more to the car for a couple of weeks or so, and I really hope that fixes it. I'm not that hopeful, however. If it isn't the PCM, I feel it could be something so simple, like bad battery cables which I didn't even think to ask him to check for me. I do know that my sister recently told me that her Dodge Ram, shortly after buying it, hesitated to start up in the same way, started having random lights come on, the computer in the dash black out, etc..and after a year, it stopped starting altogether. The problem was nothing more than bad battery cables, turned out, and it took a dealership that long to figure it out. I'm kind of leaning toward that, but I don't know a great deal about these things, obviously, or I'd be working on it myself!

*After the freeze, I occasionally noticed a loud screeching noise which I assumed was the serpentine belt. It happened upon startup, lasted a minute or less, and sometimes stopped immediately if I would turn off the heater. I also noticed it happening once when I ran through a large puddle of water. The guy who is working on the car said my serpentine belt is in good condition, however.

*When out driving and I come to a stop at a red light, there is a vibration in the front of the car. Putting the car into neutral and back into drive stops that, immediately. Every. Single. Time. What? Why? Blah.

*Motor mount, one of them, was broken and replaced when I bought the car. Another one is weak, but not yet broken.

So, help!?? Any advice whatsoever would be GREATLY appreciated! Also, do you think it's possible my battery is actually fine and that my alternator was, too? I'm so disgusted at this point, I really dread if I have to also purchase a new battery now, on top of God only knows what else.

9 Answers

Since your "mechanic" had to jump the battery a few times and your are
having power issues, seems apparent to me that the battery is weak.
How old is it, what is the voltage? Did you have auto zone test it? Also it
isn't uncommon to purchased a rebuilt alternator and have to take it back
for another. I'm not sure of the PCM issue. But since the battery light is
still on, I'd inspect the new alternator or the wiring. Hope you get things
sorted out.

Thanks. What I'm being told is that the bad battery somehow fried my
alternator and PCM. So, I sent off for the replacement and will pick up a
new battery, and also, some new battery cables just as a precautionary
measure.

Also, you need to check the ground
wires, should be a main ground that
might have some corrosion or some
other sort of bad connection. A bad
ground can cause a lot of what you
are describing, at least with the
electrical issues.

Guys, I noticed something because on my way home yesterday, my
battery light came on; I was stranded for over nine hours, knowing I
wouldn't make it very far. I looked under the hood--my pulley which
contains the serpentine belt is in a different place now, after he worked
on it. Before, it was in plain view and I know this to be a fact; I
checked it more than once and even after he told me it was badly
chipped, which I suspect he done trying to remove it. When I looked
yesterday, I had to look very hard to find the thing--it's far lower down
and hidden underneath things. Could this be why my alternator isn't
charging my battery, and why the first alternator was supposedly
bad...even though it had never been before!???

I mean, I put a brand new battery in the car, and alternator...among
other things. Voltage showed to be 14 something, and it's a high
amperage battery. It was driven roughly about an hour's worth of time
all together before the battery light came back on. It cannot be good
that he replaced that pulley and put it in a different place under the
hood, right? Doesn't the serpentine belt power the alternator in the
car? Please give me your opinion, I think I am onto something finally!
I unloaded the car at MY mechanic's garage late last night after having
my dad pull it home. I honestly believe this is human error, and I hope
to god I find out if it is. This has cost me a lot of money by now, not to
mention a lot of stress and possibly failing a college course.

voltage regulator that is the problem
I'm going through it right now with a
friends car new alt and still car will
not charge.when this happens your
voltage reg is the culprit .replace and
no more trouble.

I know this is a older post. I have a 05 Dodge Neon Sxt 2.0 I
used to have odd shifting like it was slipping and i was popping
fuses at the time and having rough idle problems as of
somewhat of low voltage problems as well as my NVLD
problems bad where my car would act like its getting no fuel, my
lights would also dim bad for no reason at times. Later on i went
to do the "Big 3 Wire Upgrade" to my car, google it, I done it
cause i had a system and wanted to make sure i had enough
power to power it But after i had done it i noticed my
transmission is shifting great , no slipping anymore, I have better
spark and seems my timing is better. My car runs decent all the
way around. Here is all i have replaced since the last 8 years i
have owned it, Camshaft and Crankshaft position sensors,
Replace both of them which cause my car to get to much fuel
and would not allow me to go over 2 to 3k. rpm, Be sure to tap
the camshaft back over before you put the new sensor on. I also
replaced serpentine belt due to slipping, Go With gates belts
they are better and on my alternator belt it has a adjustment to
tighten it since it has its own belt right off of the lower part of the
motor. I cleaned out the Idle Air Control Motor on the intake
which was causing my low rough idles at times with carb cleaner
and worked the piece back and forth in it as well. I replaced my
alternator with a 150 amp alternator Had to tilt my engine
forward to get it to fit.. One of my biggest problems was my car
would shut off while i was going up a steep hill and had to coast
backwards because did not have enough power to make it up
giving error code Po56 or57 which was my NVLD=natural vapor
leak detection, This is a bad defect "I Think' when they made the
car where the NVLD charcoal canister is next to the passenger
rear tire is and u will see a black NVLD air filter which i replaced
and rerouted to the front of my using the same kind of hose that
was on it, following my fuel lines and zip tiyng it to them and
mounted the NVLD filter to the lower back of the firewall to my
car. I replaced the NVLD filter due to full of dirt because of every
little puddle was splashing dirt right into it. Now the NVLD Valve
Motor that the air filter is connected to i rebuilt and cleaned out
around the seal on the inside and lubed lightly with petroleum
jelly and it fixed that perfectly. I also replaced gas cap with a
none locking one that way it would tighten better and wouldn't
let dirt seep into my gas tank. I hope this post helps any who
sees it my car runs great and have not had a engine light on
since other then having a faulty oil sensor when it gets cold
outside. As well i do have a voltage regulator problem seems
like when i let my car reset it keeps voltage up to 14v but after a
shut off and restart it gs to 13 and lower. don.t know how to fix
that yet

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